A Bywater double shotgun exudes personality, with a new hue in every room

Forget about neatly trimmed hedges, subtle color schemes, and the less-is-more approach to interior design: David and Susan Korec fly their funk flag proudly. "We aren't beige walls kind of people," said David, explaining the decor of the Bywater double shotgun the couple live in. "We like color."

It helps that Susan is a decorative paint artist by trade and that David has extensive construction experience. Since their marriage four years ago, the husband-and-wife team has painted, upholstered and tissue-papered the interior walls of the house that David bought in 1999, turning it into a showplace for their talents and a showcase for their offbeat collections.

The Korecs occupy all rooms on one side of the double and have incorporated the rear room of the rental side into their space to create an L-shaped unit with a bedroom and bath suite across the full width of the back.

Each of the four spaces -- the living room, dining room, kitchen and master suite -- has a different color scheme and ceiling treatment.

"We painted the front room, the one that you can see from the sidewalk when the door is open, an orange red, and its ceiling a celery color," Susan said. "David added the gridwork in the corners of the ceiling to create an Asian accent."

The theme carries through to the room's furnishings and architectural details, most notably to the elaborately carved teak mantel on the chimney. Originally intended to be the headboard for a bed, Susan and David repurposed it to give the room extra style.

"We like to spend mornings in the room, and David's daughter likes to curl up on the chaise," Susan said.

Wall treatments

Pocket doors from the living room lead to the dining room, where Susan applied tissue paper to the walls before painting them a dark red. The texture technique compensates for the less-than-smooth condition of the underlying plaster.

"Simply painting the walls wouldn't do because of all the cracks in the walls," David said. "So Susan went for a look that is similar to Venetian plaster."

Complemented by dark-stained woodwork and a deep metallic green ceiling, the room's red walls serve as an exotic backdrop for displaying relics of Susan's past as the owner of a costume shop and David's as a collector of whatever strikes his fancy.

Hats line the top of a bookcase against the wall between the dining room and kitchen, elegant walking canes are propped here and there, and a vintage wood wheelchair hugs a corner. David's art collection -- photographs largely, but also oils and pastels -- stands out on the deep-hued walls.

Above, a border of crown molding frames the ceiling.

"The crown molding in this room is cypress and consists of three pieces. It came from a hotel renovation," David said. "I noticed they were throwing it out and asked if I could have it, but it sat in my attic for 10 or 12 years until we found the right use for it."

As the primary space for eating and entertaining guests, the room sees plenty of action, thanks in large part to Susan's affable ways.

"She'll have the front door open, and before long she will have invited complete strangers in to see the house and share a bottle of wine," David said.

A kitchen confection

The couple take particular pride in the kitchen, where they painted a diamond pattern on the wood floor and upholstered the walls with a floral fabric.

"Sewing the fabric for the walls was quite an undertaking," Susan said. "It had to be done in one piece for each wall, and the patterns had to match up. Considering each wall is about 13 feet wide and 12 feet tall, I was dealing with huge pieces of cloth."

To complement the checkerboard floor and floral walls, Susan and David put a little elbow grease and a lot of creativity into creating just the right cabinets.

"Some of them came from Home Depot, but others were from the Green Project," David said. "We removed some unattractive pieces on them, and then applied a green, grained finish and new hardware."

Countertops are fashioned out of doors painted a glossy black; a pristine chrome and white Chambers stove gleams against one wall.

A door from the kitchen leads to the space the Korecs call their "nest," the master suite that stretches the width of the rear of the house. Painted a chocolate Tudor brown, the room features an exposed bath at the far end with a clawfoot tub on a platform and commode hidden behind a carved sandalwood screen.

'I don't really know where I got the idea to incorporate the bedroom and bath all into one space," David said. "It's just the way I drew it when I bought the house and planned its renovation, so that's how I built it."

Delighting in variety

True to David's pledge of "no-two-ceilings-alike," the bedroom ceiling features exposed ceiling joists and the attic floor. The entire space opens onto a screened porch -- built by David just before Hurricane Katrina -- that replaced a rear addition that previously held baths and kitchens for both sides of the double.

Painted in two shades of green, the rear porch foreshadows the future color scheme of the entire house, when money is available to realize the vision.

When the Korecs aren't working to beautify their own home, they collaborate on decorative painting and faux-finish commissions for clients.

"Many of the projects we do are very large new homes, so David and I are used to working on both renovations and new construction," Susan said.

A favorite past project was designing the doggy suites at a dog boarding facility some years back.

"Each one had a different theme," Susan said. "There was a 'King Pup Pyramid,' a 'Mardi Paws" reviewing stand -- it was a lot of fun."

With an irrepressible creative instinct driving both Susan and David, it isn't likely that their Royal Street renovation is finished.

"Whenever we have had an idea and wanted something for the house, it has popped up," Susan said. "We always have new ideas."